Paris (SPX) Sep 13, 2017
Arianespace is once again participating in the World Satellite Business Week (WSBW) conference, being held this year from September 11 to 15 in Paris, and already has confirmed its commercial dynamic by announcing a first contract this week - encompassing two launches for the European operator EUMETSAT.
The Arianespace order book will ensure sustained business with 53 launches during the c Перейти к новостиКлючевые слова:Arianespace

Paris (SPX) Sep 13, 2017
Arianespace and EUMETSAT announce the signature of a contract entrusting Arianespace with the launch of the first two Metop-SG satellites of the EUMETSAT Polar System of Second Generation (EPS-SG), plus an option for the launch of a third satellite, to be performed from the Guiana Space Center - Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
The launches are scheduled in the 2021-2023 timefr Перейти к новостиКлючевые слова:European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, Arianespace

PARIS — Europe’s 30-nation meteorological organization Eumetsat said Sept. 11 that it will launch two-second generation satellites on Arianespace Soyuz launches and will consider a third mission with either Soyuz or the future Ariane 6.

Arianespace is contracted to launch Metop-SG A1 and Metop-SG B1, two replacement polar satellites, between 2021 and 2023.

The second-generation system will ultimately consist of six satellites designed and built in pairs of two for at least 21 years of continuous Earth observation.

In an Arianespace press conference here, CEO Stephane Israel said the contract came to the European launch provider competitively, despite being a from European government customer.

Airbus Defence and Space is building the four-ton Metop-SG A1 and Metop-SG B1 satellites on its AstroBus platform. The satellites will operate in a sun-synchronous orbit approximately 800 kilometers above Earth, covering the “mid-morning polar orbit.”

Arianespace is scheduled to launch the third and final first-generation Metop satellite, Metop C, in the fall of 2018.

Last year Eumetsat decided to shift the orbit of Metop A to keep the nearly-11 year-old satellite in orbit long enough for Metop C to start operations in 2019 with some overlap.

LONDON — British outsourcing giant Serco has won a 39.1-million-euro contract ($46 million) to provide a range of scientific and engineering services to the European Space Agency over the next three years.

The contract is a continuation of a previous cooperation between ESA and Serco and could be extended up to five years, which would increase its total value to 66 million euros, Serco spokesman Adam Williams said.

According to Williams, 120 full-time equivalent employees will work on the contract, which includes key ESA projects such as Europe’s global navigation satellite system Galileo, support of the Mars Express orbiter, as well as participation on the BepiColombo Mercury exploration mission.

“We have supported ESA for many years and this award is testament to the skills and commitment our experts have demonstrated, as well as our ability to meet complex requirements across multiple countries,” Michael Alner, Managing Director, Serco Europe, said in a statement.

Serco will work with ESA in nine of the space agency’s 22 member states. The work falls under the responsibility of eight ESA directorates including Human Spaceflight and Robotic Exploration; Space Transportation; Navigation, and Earth Observation.

According to Williams, the competition was open to all companies and consortia excluding large system integrators such as Airbus Defence and Space. Williams further said the agency “awarded a number of frame contracts with different consortia having access to different combinations of services or manpower allocation in different activity domains.

An ESA representative was not available to comment.

Serco, sometimes dubbed “the biggest company you’ve never heard of” specialises in large government contracts outsourcing public services. Serco’s activities include running the UK’s National Nuclear Laboratory, as well as London’s bike-sharing scheme. The company operates multiple rail lines in the UK, runs school inspections and manages several public healthcare facilities.

In the UK, Serco has been subject to a string of controversies over the past years, including over-charging the government for a prisoner-tagging contract and falsifying performance data related to a National Health Service contract.

Serco employs 50,000 people around the world, 1500 of which work in the space sector, mostly in Europe, North America and the Middle East. The firm provides services in Earth observation, telecommunications, science, spacecraft management and IT and has a four decades-long tradition of cooperation with ESA.

Serco also has contracts with the German, French and Italian space agencies and Europe’s EUMETSAT meteorological organization.

Teledyne has enabled Thales Alenia Space to gain a 10-fold increase in the processing speed and power for its On-Board Computers (OBC), with the design and qualification process cut by up to four years, according to the company. Teledyne e2v’s re-engineered PC7448 microprocessors will be used at the heart of Thales Alenia Space’s OBC that serve the Lightning Imager (LI) systems on Eumetsat’s Meteosat Geostationary Orbit (GEO) meteorological satellites.

Thales Alenia Space will equip four Meteosat MTG 1 satellites, scheduled for launch from 2019, with LI systems that will place a major demand on their OBCs to deliver the sensitivity and discrimination required for near real-time lightning detection over the Earth’s full hemisphere. Teledyne e2v has helped Thales Alenia Space meet this challenge by re-engineering commercial grade PC7448 1.3 GHz processors in accordance with NASA’s MIL-PRF-38535 Class Y (QML Y) quality standard. Now, according to the company, Thales Alenia Space can use a microprocessor offering the same performance as the latest desktop PCs in a spaceflight-ready version capable of surviving the rigors of a 15-year mission.

The satellite LI systems will facilitate the monitoring and tracking of active convective areas and storm life cycles critical for nowcasting and very short range forecasting of severe weather events. Monitoring of lightning also helps assess the impact of climate change on thunderstorm activity.

LONDON — Maintaining safety of space operations in the increasingly congested and contested space environment will require a paradigm shift in space situational awareness, including increased collaboration and active space traffic management.

Speaking at the Military Space Situational Awareness Conference, which took place here April 26- 27, Maj. Gen. Roger Teague, director of space programs within the office of the U.S. Air Force assistant secretary for acquisition, said the increasing number of players in the space domain — both governmental and commercial — means that maintaining order in Earth orbit will be increasingly difficult and will require new approaches to prevent space debris collisions, as well as intentional attacks.

“We are looking beyond mere positional and tracking data to support the emerging need for predictive space situational awareness, threat assessment and enhanced command and control,” Teague said. “To do that, we would require advanced architecture and network of complementary systems and capabilities to give us a much-improved operational understanding and command and control capabilities for our authorities to take timely and appropriate actions.”

However, according to Teague, the Air Force, which will activate its new Space Fence radar in early 2019, might in the future hand over some of its responsibilities to another entity.

“We are looking to get away from these space traffic management functions,” Teague said. “From U.S. government perspective, we are looking at which organization should handle this space management de-confliction activity and for us to really worry about our own systems and capabilities.”

Teague also called for standards to be established that would enable merging data from multiple sources including individual countries as well as commercial and civilian providers.

The need for an active space traffic management system similar to that of modern air traffic control was mentioned by other delegates, as well as the need for a more open access to data.

“Today, you have no idea if there are two objects in conjunction [and] what actually the two spacecraft operators are doing,” said Allen Antrobus, a space security consultant who served as the conference chair.

“I think that needs to be more interactive, especially if we are going to have mega-constellations, we need to understand what is happening.”

Antrobus agreed that space surveillance and tracking in the future might need to move away from being the preserve of the military towards a solution centered on civilian space activities.

“I think the same will happen with space traffic what happened to air traffic that gradually became too big for the military and had to become a civil function,” said Antrobus. “The environment is changing fast and some of the rules and regulations that were made almost 60 years ago no longer apply.”

However, some noted that reconciling the different requirements of military and civil spacecraft operators might be challenging.

In Europe, namely, the idea of a dual-use space situational awareness system in development by the European Space Agency was abandoned in favor of the European Union’s Space Surveillance and Tracking initiative that encourages armed forces of individual member states to develop their own capabilities.

“The European direction is not clear at the moment,” said Thomas Schildknecht, vice director of the Astronomical Institute of the University of Bern, the chair of ESA’s Space Situational Awareness Advisory Group and member of the Swiss delegation to the UN’s Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

“We had the ESA SSA program, which was about the design and architecture for one common European system, which would have been operated by some other European entity, similar to Eumetsat. But that has been abandoned,” Schildknecht said. “ESA is now focusing on developing new technology, while we have the EU [Space Surveillance and Tracking] initiative, which for the time being is not really designing a common system but rather individual services.”

Schildknecht acknowledged that individual European member states are making progress, investing into space situational awareness infrastructure but called for a more systematic approach.

“We see countries like Spain, which five years ago started at really the point zero, developing their radar systems — Germany is building its GESTRA radar, France has its capabilities — but I am a bit skeptical whether this all is coming together to create a single system,” Schildknecht said.

He also voiced concerns whether the military-centered approach will provide the openness to data sharing that civilian spacecraft operators are calling for.

“The military doesn’t wasn’t to share classified data, they would offer you a service, they will warn you if one of these objects is coming towards your spacecraft but that’s the same situation we have right now with JSpOC.”

Schildknecht said that more effort should be made in order to create a comprehensive catalog of space objects that would merge not only data acquired by individual national states but also those gathered by commercial entities such as satellite operators or emerging companies moving into the space situational awareness field.

“There is no way around because otherwise we will not have the quality that we would need in the future with the amount of objects that we have,” Schildknecht said.

WASHINGTON — Bern, Switzerland-based Ruag Space is an anchor supplier of spacecraft components and rocket parts for all manner of European government space programs. The European Space Agency is such a large customer for Ruag Space that the company often describes the agency and its 22 member states as a market in and of itself.

But Ruag Space’s largest area of investment — and growth — is the United States. Last year, 25 to 30 percent of Ruag Space’s $350 million in revenue came from U.S. customers. That roster includes payload fairings for United Launch Alliance, satellite structures and dispensers for OneWeb, and parts for the NOAA/EUMETSAT Jason-3 oceanography satellite.

For Peter Guggenbach, CEO of Ruag Space, it is not only the civil space opportunities that lured Ruag across the Atlantic, but the intense demands of the startup-heavy NewSpace sector. It might come as a surprise that a company with a steady stream of European government business would seek out very demanding foreign customers with big dreams and limited cash. Guggenbach embraces the challenge, and is building footholds in Alabama, California, Colorado and Florida.

Guggenbach spoke with SpaceNews about Ruag’s westward expansion.

Ruag has expanded in the U.S., particularly with your work with ULA. Is the U.S. Ruag’s next major market?

For us, the U.S. market is very cool, and has a lot of opportunities. Ruag is a company which values partnerships and is willing to invest. We are not just building products, we are working closely with our partners to enhance and continuously develop products better.

We’ve won two substantial parts for the OneWeb project – the satellite structures and the dispensers – and we are building a smaller facility of 15 to 20 people in Florida.

When entering partnerships, we increasingly try to seek as much standardization as possible in order to get to certain volumes. This means we can tremendously lower our costs, which is then a cool thing for our partners who want to be competitive in the market.

Outside of ULA and OneWeb, what else is drawing you to the U.S. market?

There are many attractions – be it in regard to existing customers, new business or technology development. For instance, one domain is in the digital electronics field like high-throughput satellites. There are a number of potential partners which we are talking to right now. Also for our RF products, we hear from many primes. At the same time, we strive to further advance the technologies and products.

What obstacles does Ruag Space encounter in reaching the U.S. market, and how are you preparing to overcome them?

Firstly, you need to get a foot in the door, deliver to your promises and have the word spread. An advantage is that we are already known for our European legacy and previous collaboration with U.S. customers.

However, in the past, an obstacle had been that our teams and manufacturing facilities were based in Europe. In order to be close to our customers, we are now building up a strong presence and a local workforce in the U.S.

The U.S. employer market is great in this sense, as there are many talented and skilled professionals. We experience that our flexibility, the career paths we offer, as well as the investment we are making attract great people.

How is the NewSpace movement impacting Ruag’s business? Do new operators (besides OneWeb) or launchers present real opportunity or is it mainly hype?

NewSpace for us is not a danger, it’s a cool opportunity to use new technology and do things completely different. That has added up nicely for us so far and we are generating substantial business in this segment. We go with our partners to cut costs up to 50 percent. It can be done if you apply technology in a smart way. By using commercial-off-the-shelf digital hardware, costs can be reduced by a factor of five. Lean forward, think different, put our customer in the center, and then whatever we do, keep the commitment and the promise that we have made.

It is also a chance for Ruag, coming from a traditional business, to attract a lot of motivated, forward-thinking employees. The U.S. has great potential, and we are investing. There is great business opportunity in the U.S., and we particularly seek to invest close to our customers.

How many people does Ruag have in California’s Silicon Valley?

Just a handful. Our plan is at the end of the year to have 15 to 20. We are overall around 1,300 worldwide. By the end of the year there will be roughly 100 in the U.S. But in the end, it’s not about the number of people, it’s about doing the right thing around our customers.

What new approaches are you taking to manufacturing equipment for space?

For the manufacturing of payload fairings, we have used autoclaves. We are working with industrial ovens that are much more energy efficient and – due to their size – allow us to cure the structures in full size. This reduces integration time of individual pieces and cuts costs down tremendously.

If customers want additive manufacturing, we apply it where applicable. If they want their products manufactured the traditional way, we do offer this as well.

And obviously, commercial off the shelf. Every manager in my company has COTS targets, and we are doing well there. We try to increase every year the COTS percentage in our products.

Are there other business opportunities in Europe that Ruag is eyeing currently?

A lot. Ruag has the most growth potential in the commercial channels. We came almost entirely from the ESA/institutional market. Meanwhile, we do more than 50 percent on the commercial market. This is where the growth lies. I think also you quickly get that sensibility to be cost efficient, to be fast on the market and agile in your delivery. But at the same time, there is ESA development, and we will seek further NASA involvement in the future. It is a clear focus to contribute and be there.

Arctic Space Centre provides answers to hot arctic questions

What does the Arctic region's snow cover look like today? How thick was the ice that covered the Arctic Ocean in January? Will we see the Aurora Borealis in the near future?

Photo: Matias Takala

The Finnish Meteorological Institute's Arctic Space Centre will provide answers to all these questions and many others. Sodankylä's Arctic Space Centre has expanded from a satellite data centre to a place where the entire chain is handled from the reception of satellite data, to processing and distribution and then the utilisation of data. The data can be utilised for example by environmental and security authorities.

New antenna part of extensive infrastructure

The Finnish Meteorological Institute's Arctic Space Centre's infrastructure expanded again on 5 April, when a new approximately 15-metre high SOD03 satellite data receiving antenna was taken into use. The antenna is the third receiving antenna in the area. "However, this antenna is only one part of the centre that has been established in Sodankylä over the years," Head of the FMI's Arctic Research Unit Jouni Pulliainen states.

The Arctic Space Centre is tasked with producing important data from the Arctic regions utilising the newest satellite and space technology. The centre also produces services that are of importance to the Arctic region's security. Data transmitted by satellites can be utilised e.g. in meteorological services, flood prediction systems, ice services and shipping. One of its key applications is the monitoring of the Baltic's ice situation for the needs of winter-time maritime transport. The service is based on the radar satellite materials produced in Sodankylä. "Satellite data will be received real-time from satellites flying over Sodankylä. After this, the data will be processed into the end product, which will be transmitted immediately to the bridge of an icebreaker operating in the Baltic Sea.

Centre is an investment in achieving objectives set for Chairmanship

The Arctic Space Centre will also combine Arctic expertise and space technology in a more diverse way than previously. The long time series obtained from satellite observations can also be used e.g. in climate change research. The data is important especially in Arctic regions, where the effects of climate change are already particularly evident.

"The Arctic Space Centre is a concrete investment that will help Finland achieve the objectives it has set for its Chairmanship of the Arctic Council. As chairman, Finland must also be able to react to the environmental development of the Arctic regions, as climate change will impact on the future of the entire Arctic region," Minister of Transport and Communications Anne Berner stated.

Today, Sodankylä also processes, distributes and archives observations that satellites transmit nearly in real-time from Finland, Europe and the entire northern hemisphere. Sodankylä produces e.g. unique satellite-based data on the northern hemisphere's snow cover and soil freezing as services financed by the European Union, EUMETSAT and the European Space Agency. Participation in the Copernicus Collaborative Ground Segment network is also an essential part of Sodankylä's activities. The European Union's enormous Copernicus Programme's Sentinel satellites form a service network for the EU's environmental data.

The centre is also well-equipped with a variety of observation instruments that can help in verifying the accuracy of various satellite measurements. "Without these reference measurements, the observation data produced by satellites would be qualitatively unusable," Mr Pulliainen notes.

The Arctic Space Centre's partners and financiers include international space agencies (ESA, EUMETSAT, NASA, NOAA), the European Union and numerous other national organisations and research institutes such as the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), and the Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory.

Cloud services and virtual computing

Sodankylä's infrastructure has been developed so that large satellite data masses are accessible via machine-readable interface or as a cloud service. The cloud service and virtual computing platform built in Sodankylä facilitate the development and production of new added value services and products. In principle, a lot of the data are entirely free. "In the long-term, I believe that some entirely new business will be established at some point that will be based on this data," states Jouni Pulliainen from the Finnish Meteorological Institute.

On account of new development work and expansion of activities, Sodankylä is also becoming a test platform for intelligent transport research. A versatile infrastructure is currently under construction in Sodankylä; it will combine the 5G network, intelligent transport services, weather expertise and challenging winter conditions.

The European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) has awarded Serco a new contract to continue managing operations for the Meteosat series of geostationary meteorological satellites. Serco’s team of specialists will be responsible for around-the-clock monitoring and control of the four Meteosat meteorological satellites in orbit, operating the mission control center, ground stations and antennas, and managing the transmission of data between the satellites, mission control center and EUMETSAT’s clients.

Serco and its subcontractor Telespazio Vega Deutschland have managed operations for EUMETSAT’s Meteosat missions since 1995. The new contract is for a period of six years, with the option of three one-year extensions. The contract will see Serco provide continuity of service for the present Meteosat Second Generation Program, which involves four satellites currently in orbit, while at the same time building up a new team of analysts and controllers for the Meteosat Third Generation Program, which is set to involve six new satellites.

The Meteosat meteorological satellites monitor Earth’s atmosphere, ocean and land surfaces 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, supplying data to the national meteorological services of the organization’s member and cooperating states in Europe, as well as other users worldwide.

According to EUMETSAT, the services the satellites provide play a crucial role in protecting public safety by helping meteorologists identify and monitor potentially dangerous weather situations and issue timely forecasts and warnings to emergency services and local authorities.

WASHINGTON — A French reusable rocket engine program is getting a boost from the European Space Agency, which is ready to sign a contract with Airbus Safran Launchers that would lead to an engine test three years from now.

A small team of engineers from Airbus Safran Launchers and the French space agency CNES have poured a few million euros since 2015 into a liquid oxygen and-methane-fueled reusable engine dubbed Prometheus. ESA leaders agreed during December’s ministerial conference in Lucerne, Switzerland, to make Prometheus part of the agency’s Future Launchers Preparatory Program, or FLPP.

In an interview with SpaceNews, Airbus Safran Launchers CEO Alain Charmeau said FLPP is allocating 85 million euros ($91 million) to Prometheus to fund research and development leading to a 2020 test firing. Now that Prometheus is an ESA program, Charmeau expects more countries will get involved.

“ESA will pay the contract to Airbus Safran Launchers and then Airbus Safran Launchers will cooperate with European industry, of course France and Germany, but we will have also contributions from Italy, Belgium, Sweden and probably a couple of others to a smaller extent,” Charmeau said.

Europe has been reticent to jump into reusability. Both of its next-generation launchers — Ariane 6 and Vega C — will be expendable. Airbus Safran Launchers, ESA’s prime contractor for the Ariane 6, has said the European market does not ensure enough launches to make reusability a profitable pursuit. Charmeau said the Prometheus work ESA has agreed to fund will evaluate the feasibility of developing a reusable engine with drastically lower cost.

“If we have this answer by 2020, then we can work on the evolution of launchers either for reusability or not depending on the size of the market,” he said.

The target price for a Prometheus engine is 1 million euros, one-tenth the cost of the Ariane 6’s liquid-oxygen and liquid-hydrogen Vulcain 2.1 engine. The Prometheus program is making extensive use of new technologies and production methods, including 3-D printing, and a large amount of technical design work already completed in France and Germany, according to an Airbus Safran Launchers presentation.

Charmeau said the market dynamics that have dissuaded the company from reusability in the past are still the same, but the company wants to lay the foundation for long-term launcher development.

“We are preparing the market for 2030. Today we do not have in Europe an engine which has the capability to be reused for the main stage of the launcher. Until we have this engine, it is very difficult to design what could be a new launcher,” he said.

During December’s ministerial, ESA members committed 206.8 million euros to FLPP. Startup PLD Space of Spain, another member of the FLPP program, received 750,000 euros from ESA in November to study liquid-propulsion stage recovery for a small satellite launcher.

Airbus Defence and Space’s reusable first-stage engine concept, the Advanced Expendable Launcher with Innovative engine Economy, or Adeline, is a separate project from Prometheus, Charmeau said, but could combined with the liquid-propulsion system. Adeline proposes returning an Ariane first-stage engine by flying it back with deployable wings and landing on a runway.

“Prometheus might fit very well with this kind of reusable launcher concept,” Charmeau said.

European demand for Ariane 6

Airbus Safran Launchers is also trying to get a guarantee of demand for Ariane 6 launches from European government institutions ahead of its first launch. The company estimates that European government demand for launches accounts for only 27 percent of Arianespace’s launch activity, with the rest coming from the commercial sector. The U.S. market is 65-percent government demand, going largely to domestic launch providers, and the Russian market is 76-percent government, according to Airbus Safran Launchers numbers.

“The target now is to try to federate the European Commission, ESA, Eumetsat and national agencies for similar applications so that we organize a production order to be awarded to Arianespace as quickly as possible in order to give European industry a minimum critical mass for production of Ariane 6, and the same for Vega C,” Charmeau explained.

He said Airbus Safran Launchers is seeking a commitment of five Ariane 6 launches per year, and believes a commitment of two Vega C launches a year for Italy’s Avio would constitute enough demand to provide stability. Charmeau said demand for launches of European satellites is rising and should make this an attainable target.

“We anticipate a slight increase in institutional requirements in line with the increasing space budget in Europe, both at the European Commission level and ESA level, which means that there will be more programs, more satellites and therefore more launch services,” he said.

Charmeau said Airbus Safran Launchers wants to see a European representative, such as the European Commission or ESA, aggregate institutional demand and direct that to Arianespace. Such an organizational method is not in place today, and it is unclear how that might form. Charmeau said Airbus Safran Launchers will also be negotiating whether a guaranteed number of launches per year would replace the subsidy Arianespace gets to provide Europe with assured access to space.

SEATTLE — The U.S. Air Force is considering taking over an existing geostationary orbit weather satellite operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to help fill a gap in coverage over the Indian Ocean.

In a panel discussion at the 97th Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society here Jan. 24, Ralph Stoffler, director of weather for the U.S. Air Force, said that an agreement signed in December between the Air Force and NOAA would allow the Air Force to take over operations of a spare Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) weather satellite.

That opportunity became available after the successful launch in November of the GOES-R satellite, now named GOES-16. That satellite is undergoing checkout and is scheduled to become operational later this year.

“We have a plan where potentially, now that GOES-R is up there, that GOES-14 would become DOD-1 as we try to grab that satellite and move it over to the Indian Ocean and become the first DOD geostationary weather satellite, if we have to move down that pathway,” he said.

Weather satellite coverage of the Indian Ocean region has been a challenge for the Air Force, which has relied on non-U.S. satellites, including from Europe, to provide imagery. The area had been served by Eumetsat’s Meteosat-7 satellite, which is scheduled to be retired this year. In June 2016, Eumetsat agreed to move Meteosat-8 to the region to continue to coverage when Meteosat-7 is retired.

Meteosat-8 is in a different orbital position that Meteosat-7 — 41.5 degrees east versus 57 degrees east — so its coverage of the region is not the same. Meteosat-8 is also expected to reach the end of its life in 2019, requiring the Air Force to find another satellite to cover the region in a few years.

“The Indian Ocean region has been a challenge for us,” Stoffler said, saying the Air Force appreciated Eumetsat’s decision to move Meteosat-8. “It doesn’t provide us all the coverage that we need, but I’m glad that we were able to buy that time.”

Stoffler said the Air Force was reluctant to take on the responsibility of operating geostationary weather satellites. “Certainly it’s not our desire to get into this business, but the bottom line is we have to have assured access to this type of information,” he said.

An alternative option, he said, is to access images from Indian weather satellites in the region, provided the Air Force was confident it would always have access to that data. “That would probably be the more cost-effective solution,” he said. “But to have a U.S.-owned and controlled satellite in that part of the world, certainly from my perspective, is ideal.”

If the Air Force goes ahead with plans to take over GOES-14, Stoffler said the Air Force would not have to pay NOAA to access the satellite. However, it would bear the cost of setting up its own downlink station for the satellite in the Indian Ocean region. “We want to have this in place before Meteosat-8 expires,” he said.

Stoffler mentioned GOES-14 because that satellite, launched in 2009, is a spare, with GOES-13 operating as GOES-East and GOES-15 as GOES-West. However, a NOAA official on the panel said a final decision on what satellite to offer to the Air Force won’t be made until GOES-16 completes its commissioning late this year.

“Both the programmatic and the engineering details are in the early stages,” said Karen St. Germain, director of the Office of Systems Architecture and Advanced Planning in NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service.

“We, on the NOAA side, have not committed to any particular bird,” she said. “What we said was, when we get to the point of commissioning operationally GOES-16, we’ll then look at the constellation health and have a negotiation with the Air Force.”

WASHINGTON — Spacecraft builder OHB System AG says it is taking steps to rein in the production time for its SmallGEO line of satellites to around three years instead of the seven years the first has taken.

Spanish satellite fleet operator Hispasat, which signed a contract at the 2009 Paris Air Show to be OHB’s inaugural customer for a satellite design financed by the German and European space agencies, has been waiting more than seven years for Hispasat 36W-1 to lift off, an event now scheduled for Jan. 27 aboard a Europeanized Soyuz rocket. That’s a four-year delay that Hispasat Chief Executive Carlos Espinós said would have been longer if launch provider Arianespace had not been able to switch the satellite from Ariane 5, its originally intended ride.

Bremen, Germany-based OHB has a total of nine SmallGEO satellites under contract with a possible tenth on order from the German government for Heinrich Hertz, a civil-military telecommunications satellite that has struggled for funding. All of the satellites are behind schedule; none have launched.

Andreas Lindenthal, a board member of OHB System AG, said Jan. 18 during a press conference with the European Space Agency that the company’s new strategy is to work with customers to better define the telecommunications payload concurrently with flight hardware production.

Lindenthal said this approach targets having a “three-year [manufacturing] period up to launching the satellite,” adding that a three-year time frame should enable OHB to pursue a “variety of potential different missions.”

Hispasat-36W-1’s manufacturing time took longer not only because it is using an entirely new platform, but because of technical difficulties during integration, he said. As a result of the growing pains that came with the first SmallGEO, Lindenthal said OHB has identified several ways to expedite future projects at the satellite, subsystem and component levels, namely by taking the successful practices from Hispasat-36W-1 and repeating them for future spacecraft.

“Commonality is something which we have been able to demonstrate. We are able to introduce that across the disciplines into the various programs,” he said. “This is for sure the future.”

OHB mainly has built satellites for European government programs, but has long eyed the telecommunications market as a way to grow its 500-million-euros-a-year business to 750 million euros in annual revenue. OHB sees SmallGEO — a lightweight 2,500 to 3,500 kilogram satellite capable of chemical, electrical and hybrid propulsion — as the key to unlocking this market

The German Aerospace Center, or DLR, led the early studies on SmallGEO, and then handed the reins to ESA when the 22-nation agency signed a development contract with OHB. SmallGEO is part of ESA’s Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) program as a public-private partnership.

Including Hispasat-36W-1, OHB has nine SmallGEO projects on order, along with a possible tenth, Heinrich Hertz, from the German government. ESA’s second European Data Relay Satellite, EDRS-C, is based on OHB’s SmallGEO. EDRS-C also carries the commercial Hylas 3 payload for British satellite operator Avanti Communications. That satellite was supposed to launch on an Ariane 5 early this year, but is now anticipated in October.

OHB’s third SmallGEO order, an all-electric variant for SES called Electra, is also substantially behind its original schedule. The first contract signing between SES and OHB took place in 2013, with a projected launch in 2018, but the actual go-ahead contract, which included ESA, wasn’t signed until March of 2016. OHB expects it to take five years to complete and launch the satellite in 2021.

The other six SmallGEO platforms are booked for the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) weather satellites, for which Thales Alenia Space is the prime contractor. The MTG satellites were supposed to start launching in 2017, but Eumetsat now has 2021 on their website.

Magali Vaissiere, ESA’s director of telecommunications and integrated applications, defended the agency’s commitment to fund research and development for European industry, arguing that it is necessary to assist Europe in staying competitive with the United States.

“The European public sector has a vested interest in supported partnerships between the private sector and ESA as it enables industry to take more risks and invest in new products and solutions, and in a way accelerate their introduction on the market,” she said. “Without the equivalent of say, the U.S. Department of Defense injecting vast funding resources into R&D, the European public and private sectors must work together to keep us at the forefront of advanced satellite technology and all the spin-off advantages that come with it.”

Gerd Gruppe, director of space administration at the DLR, said 12 member states invested in SmallGEO, including Germany, Spain, Sweden and Luxembourg. Vaissiere said Spain was the next biggest contributor behind Germany. Thales Alenia Space España developed the Redsat regenerative payload for Hispasat-36W-1, which carries 20 Ku-band transponders, up to three Ka-band transponders, and an active antenna of reconfigurable beams.

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), chairman of the strategic forces subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, said in an interview last week that he plans next year to reorganize how the government manages space activities.

That effort, based on recommendations made in a 2015 GAO report, could be accomplished through language in next year’s defense authorization bills to centralize management of space activities.

Rogers acknowledged that such changes “will be very disruptive and that will make some people unhappy” but will be positive in the long run. [Defense News]

An Atlas 5 successfully launched a broadband satellite for EchoStar Sunday. The Atlas 5 431 lifted off at 2:13 p.m. Eastern from Cape Canaveral, a launch delayed by about 45 minutes because of a technical issue discovered late in the countdown. The rocket deployed the EchoStar 19 satellite into a supersynchronous transfer orbit a half-hour after liftoff. The satellite will provide additional capacity for HughesNet, a consumer satellite broadband service in North America. The launch was the twelfth and final mission of 2016 for United Launch Alliance. [SpaceNews]

The life of John Glenn was honored at a memorial service Saturday in Columbus, Ohio. Vice President Joe Biden and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden were among those who spoke at the service on the Ohio State University campus to honor the life of the former Marine, astronaut and senator. “We are standing on John Glenn’s shoulders as we pursue a human voyage to Mars … it would not be possible without his bravery and selfless dedication,” Bolden said. Glenn passed away Dec. 8 at the age of 95. [Columbus Dispatch]

A change in orbit will provide a European weather satellite with a few additional years of life. Eumetsat officials agreed this month to gradually drift the orbit of the Metop-A polar-orbiting satellite from its current path, which passes over the equator at 9:30 a.m. local time, to one that passes over the equator at 7:30 a.m., saving propellant and extending its life. The spacecraft will also be placed in a lower orbit to ensure that it reenters within 25 years after the end of its life, as mandated by orbital debris mitigation guidelines. [SpaceNews]

Japan is ready to launch a small space science satellite Tuesday. The launch of the Exploration of energization and Radiation in Geospace (ERG) satellite, a mission to study the Van Allen Belts, on an Epsilon rocket is scheduled for 6:00 a.m. Eastern time Tuesday. The launch will be the second for the Epsilon rocket, after a successful inaugural launch in 2013. [JAXA]

China is expected to launch a carbon monitoring satellite this week. While the launch of TanSat has not been formally announced by the Chinese government, the spacecraft is expected to be launched on Wednesday. The satellite will be used to monitor carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, as part of Chinese efforts to reduce emissions. The launch will be the 20th this year for China, with perhaps three more to take place before the end of the year. [gbtimes]

WASHINGTON — Europe’s 30-nation Eumetsat meteorological satellite organization will adjust the orbit of its Metop-A weather satellite to squeeze at least a few additional years of service out of the 10-year-old spacecraft.

The change in orbit will also enable Eumetsat to deorbit the satellite at its end of life — something Metop-A was never originally designed to do, according to Eumetsat’s low Earth orbit spacecraft operation manager Andrew Monham.

Eumetsat officials agreed during a Dec. 6 to 7 council meeting in Darmstadt, Germany, that shifting Metop-A into a drifting orbit in June 2017 would save enough fuel to add two to three years of usable life while preserving enough fuel to dispose of the satellite rather than letting it turn into space junk.

Metop-A launched into low Earth orbit in October 2006, followed by Metop-B in September 2012. Metop-C, the third and final satellite in the series, is scheduled to launch in October 2018 on an Arianespace Soyuz rocket. Following in-orbit commissioning, Metop-C is projected to enter service in 2019. By modifying Metop-A’s orbit, Eumetsat hopes the satellite will overlap with Metop-C for a couple of years. If it does, Metop-A will have effectively tripled its five-year design life.

As a consequence of the orbit change, the local time at which the satellite regularly crosses the equator will gradually shift by two hours from June 2017 to 2021. Metop-A currently circles the Earth in a sun-synchronous orbit, crossing the equator at 9:30 a.m. local time. Monham told SpaceNews Dec. 13 that this is considered to be a mid-morning orbit. The drifting orbit, though, will shift the satellite’s daytime equatorial pass to 7:30 a.m local time by 2021, what the UN’s World Meteorological Organization considers an early morning orbit.

Eumetsat said in a Dec. 8 statement that Metop-A will be directed into a lower perigee orbit that will help ensure it reenters the atmosphere within 25 years of ending service. Monham said the orbit change and disposal plan is possible because Metop-A has made very few correctional maneuvers since launch, leaving it with surplus fuel to use creatively.

“We’ve completely looked at operating the satellite out of it’s design envelop,” he said. “It’s not designed to operate outside of this nominal local time. The solar arrays will no longer be angled correctly with respect to the sun as the orbital plane starts to precess. The power and also the thermal behavior of the satellite will significantly change with time.”

Leaving normal orbital parameters comes as a trade-off, but one that could bring opportunities for new science, Monham said.

“It does open up some possibilities for meteorologist because it’s quite interesting to get measurements from a different local time. The solar illumination is different for that satellite, which means there will be different thermal conditions in the atmosphere and different humidity,” he said.

Monham said Eumetsat enlisted the European Space Agency and the satellite’s prime contractor Airbus Defence and Space to asses how far Metop-A could go outside of its design envelope. ESA and Airbus confirmed the drift orbit was possible, he said.

“We basically worked out that we can operate the satellite until the thermal conditions become such that there is a possibility if the payload gets switched off due to an anomaly that the hydrazine on board might freeze. That is our limiting factor for the satellite operation, and what’s causing us to say we can get to 2021, possibly 2022,” he said.

Monham said additional analysis will be necessary once Metop-A is in its new orbit to determine how long the satellite can last before deorbiting. About half of the satellite’s remaining fuel will be needed for the deorbiting procedure, he said, which involves angling Metop-A into an elliptical orbit for an uncontrolled reentry. Eumetsat will exhaust all remaining fuel and battery power before Earth’s atmosphere does the undertaking.

“If Metop were to be left in its operational orbit at end of life without such an altitude reduction maneuver, the reentry time would be close to 200 years and the risk of collision with other space objects would be unacceptably high,” Monham added.

The first generation of Metop satellites were intended to operate sequentially, but Monham said meteorologists found value in having data from multiple spacecraft at the same time. The second generation of Metop satellites, designated Metop-SG A and Metop-SG B, are scheduled to launch 2021 and 2022, respectively, and will intentionally overlap.

Airbus Defence and Space is building these spacecraft as well. Monham said the two satellites underwent a late redesign to include larger propellant tanks so that they will have enough fuel for a controlled deorbit when they are retired from service.

During its December council meeting, Eumetsat also approved a contract for the payload data acquisition and processing function of the ground segment for the Metop-SG satellites. Thales Alenia Space, in a Dec. 14 press release, said Eumetsat selected the company to lead a European consortium that will create what is essentially expected to be a new-generation data processing center, capable of extracting both geophysical and environmental products in near-real time. Eumetsat said the ground segment contract approval paves the way for all ground segment development contracts to “be in force by the end of the year.”

[Via Satellite 11-18-2016] Airbus Defence and Space has awarded the Communications & Medical Products Division of Communications & Power Industries (CPI) an 8.7 million euro (approximately $9.5 million) to support a new generation of satellites that is expected to provide global advanced meteorological data from 2021 until after 2040. The Meteorological Operational Satellite – Second Generation (MetOp-SG) program is a collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) and consists of two series of satellites carrying complementary instruments.

Under the contract, CPI will develop several engineering and flight models of 5.355 gigahertz Extended Interaction Klystrons (EIKs). CPI’s EIKs are vital to the Scatterometer (SCA) radar instrument, creating the high-power microwaves required for the instrument to measure surface winds over the ocean. This information is expected to play an important role in numerical weather prediction, climate monitoring and the tracking of extreme weather events. In addition, the Scatterometer will provide data on soil moisture, snow cover, sea ice and other valuable environmental measures. Work on this program will take place at CPI’s facilities in Georgetown, Ontario, Canada. CPI will deliver flight models beginning in 2019.

Paris, France (SPX) Oct 18, 2016 -
It has orbited Earth almost 52,000 times, delivered more than 100 Terabytes of weather and climate data 24 hours a day/7 days a week, and improved weather prediction significantly, helping to save lives and protect property.

Europe's first polar orbiting weather satellite MetOp-A, built by Airbus Defence and Space for ESA/EUMETSAT, has been providing precise weather and climate data since it was launched on October 19, 2006.

Global economic activity has become increasingly dependent on - and affected by - weather. Accurate weather forecasts are essential for sectors including energy, transportation, construction, agriculture and tourism, enabling them to plan and use resources more effectively and efficiently.

Timely warnings from national weather organisations help to save lives and property endangered by storms, flooding, heat waves and air pollution. Reliable weather forecasts yield an annual benefit up to euro 5 billion in the European Union, according to experts.

MetOp-A was the first of the low Earth orbiting (approx. 830 km) meteorological satellite for Europe, delivering a wide range of global measurements essential for weather forecasting and for climate monitoring.

One of three identical spacecraft, MetOp-A circles the planet sun-synchronously 14 times a day, flying much closer to the Earth than geostationary Meteo-satellites placed 36000 km above the equator. It provides observations in considerably finer detail over the full Earth, including the high latitude regions which are critical for weather forecasts in Europe, and giving access to a wealth of ocean, land and atmospheric parameters measured by microwave instruments that cannot be flown in the remote geostationary orbit.

Dieter Klaes, programme scientist at EUMETSAT, Europe's organisation for the exploitation of meteorological satellites, said: "The MetOp satellites have significantly improved numerical weather prediction. By itself MetOp-A contributes roughly 25% of all data gathered for meteorological purposes, and 38% of all satellite platforms. The MetOp fleet's performance in measuring trace gases and in the field of atmospheric chemistry, e.g. methane, sulphur dioxide, volcanic ash, has exceeded all expectations. Furthermore, climate and environmental monitoring benefits from the long-lasting programme with three satellites designed to operate for more than two decades."

The 4-ton MetOp satellites are still the most complete meteorological satellites operating in the world, carrying 12 instruments, 3 of which were made under Airbus Defence and Space responsibility. They comprise infrared, microwave and UV instruments to accurately measure pressures, humidity, temperatures, and gases at various altitudes in the Earth's atmosphere, as well as a scatterometer to measure wind direction and speed.

In a collaboration between EUMETSAT and NOAA, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, European and American meteorological satellites carry a set of identical sensors. An Airbus-built Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS) flies on the NOAA 18 and 19 satellites, as well as on all three MetOps.

Since its launch in October 2006, MetOp-A has operated like clockwork and has achieved double its designed five-year lifetime. In September 2012 MetOp-B, the second in the series, was launched and operates in tandem with MetOp-A. The two satellites fly the same orbit, half an orbit apart, to better observe rapid atmosphere evolutions. The duo has increased the wealth of data even further, collecting data from low Earth orbit essential for accurate forecasts up to 12 days ahead. MetOp-C is scheduled for launch in 2018.

Michael Menking, Head of Earth Observation, Navigation and Science at Airbus Defence and Space said: "The MetOp programme continues to be a tremendous success with MetOp-A lasting well beyond its design lifetime to the milestone birthday we will celebrate. The success of this project has led to Airbus being awarded the development of the MetOp-Second Generation system, which will ensure that Europe receives high quality data from 2021 for the next 25 years."

In this new generation of MetOp satellites, MetOp Second Generation, currently being developed by Airbus Defence and Space, there will be a fleet of six satellites, with pairs of satellites carrying different packages to deliver complementary meteorological information. The A series of satellites (as of 2021) will be equipped with atmospheric sounders as well as optical and infrared imagers, while the B series (as of 2022) will focus on microwave sensors.

Artist’s rendering of the MetOp A satellite. Photo: Airbus Defence and Space

[Via Satellite 10-17-2016] Europe´s first polar orbiting weather satellite, MetOp A, has survived double its specified lifetime of five years, manufacturer Airbus Defence and Space announced today. Launched Oct. 19, 2006, the satellite will soon accomplish 10 years in space for the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT).

MetOp A has orbited Earth almost 52,000 times and delivered more than 100 terabytes of weather and climate data. Orbiting at approximately 830 kilometers the spacecraft was Europe’s first Low Earth Orbit (LEO) meteorological satellite. Now one of three identical spacecraft, MetOp A circles the planet sun-synchronously 14 times a day, flying much closer to the Earth than the geostationary Meteo-satellites placed 36,000 km above the equator. The satellite provides observations in finer detail over the full Earth, including high latitude regions critical for weather forecasts in Europe.

Since September 2012, MetOp A has operated in tandem with MetOp B, flying in the same orbit, half an orbit apart, to better observe rapid changes in the atmosphere. The duo collect data essential for accurate forecasts up to 12 days ahead. The third satellite, MetOp C, is scheduled for launch in 2018.

“By itself MetOp A contributes roughly 25 percent of all data gathered for meteorological purposes, and 38 percent of all satellite platforms. The MetOp fleet’s performance in measuring trace gases, and in the field of atmospheric chemistry, e.g. methane, sulfur dioxide, volcanic ash, has exceeded all expectations. Furthermore, climate and environmental monitoring benefits from the long-lasting program with three satellites designed to operate for more than two decades,” said Dieter Klaes, program scientist at EUMETSAT.

It has orbited Earth almost 52,000 times, delivered more than 100 Terabytes of weather and climate data 24 hours a day/7 days a week, and improved weather prediction significantly, helping to save lives and protect property.

Europe´s first polar orbiting weather satellite MetOp-A, built by Airbus Defence and Space for ESA/EUMETSAT, has been providing precise weather and climate data since it was launched on October 19, 2006.

Global economic activity has become increasingly dependent on – and affected by – weather. Accurate weather forecasts are essential for sectors including energy, transportation, construction, agriculture and tourism, enabling them to plan and use resources more effectively and efficiently.

Timely warnings from national weather organisations help to save lives and property endangered by storms, flooding, heat waves and air pollution. Reliable weather forecasts yield an annual benefit up to €5 billion in the European Union, according to experts.

MetOp-A was the first of the low Earth orbiting (approx. 830 km) meteorological satellite for Europe, delivering a wide range of global measurements essential for weather forecasting and for climate monitoring.

One of three identical spacecraft, MetOp-A circles the planet sun-synchronously 14 times a day, flying much closer to the Earth than geostationary Meteo-satellites placed 36000 km above the equator. It provides observations in considerably finer detail over the full Earth, including the high latitude regions which are critical for weather forecasts in Europe, and giving access to a wealth of ocean, land and atmospheric parameters measured by microwave instruments that cannot be flown in the remote geostationary orbit.

Dieter Klaes, programme scientist at EUMETSAT, Europe´s organisation for the exploitation of meteorological satellites, said: "The MetOp satellites have significantly improved numerical weather prediction. By itself MetOp-A contributes roughly 25% of all data gathered for meteorological purposes, and 38% of all satellite platforms. The MetOp fleet’s performancein measuring trace gases and in the field of atmospheric chemistry, e.g. methane, sulphur dioxide, volcanic ash, has exceeded all expectations. Furthermore, climate and environmental monitoring benefits from the long-lasting programme with three satellites designed to operate for more than two decades."

The 4-ton MetOp satellites are still the most complete meteorological satellites operating in the world, carrying 12 instruments, 3 of which were made under Airbus Defence and Space responsibility. They comprise infrared, microwave and UV instruments to accurately measure pressures, humidity, temperatures, and gases at various altitudes in the Earth’s atmosphere, as well as a scatterometer to measure wind direction and speed.

In a collaboration between EUMETSAT and NOAA, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, European and American meteorological satellites carry a set of identical sensors. An Airbus-built Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS) flies on the NOAA 18 and 19 satellites, as well as on all three MetOps.

Since its launch in October 2006, MetOp-A has operated like clockwork and has achieved double its designed five-year lifetime. In September 2012 MetOp-B, the second in the series, was launched and operates in tandem with MetOp-A. The two satellites fly the same orbit, half an orbit apart, to better observe rapid atmosphere evolutions. The duo has increased the wealth of data even further, collecting data from low Earth orbit essential for accurate forecasts up to 12 days ahead. MetOp-C is scheduled for launch in 2018.

Michael Menking, Head of Earth Observation, Navigation and Science at Airbus Defence and Space said: "The MetOp programme continues to be a tremendous success with MetOp-A lasting well beyond its design lifetime to the milestone birthday we will celebrate. The success of this project has led to Airbus being awarded the development of the MetOp-Second Generation system, which will ensure that Europe receives high quality data from 2021 for the next 25 years."In this new generation of MetOp satellites, MetOp Second Generation, currently being developed by Airbus Defence and Space, there will be a fleet of six satellites, with pairs of satellites carrying different packages to deliver complementary meteorological information. The A series of satellites (as of 2021) will be equipped with atmospheric sounders as well as optical and infrared imagers, while the B series (as of 2022) will focus on microwave sensors.

Note to editors:German insurance provider Munich Re´s natural disasters report 2015 listed 1060 natural disasters in 2015 with overall losses of US$100 billion and 23,000 fatalities. Floods and mass movements accounted for 28% of the losses, while 47% were caused by storms, 18% resulted from extreme temperatures, droughts and forest fires, and 7% were due to earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic activity.

About Airbus Defence and Space

Airbus Defence and Space, a division of Airbus Group, is Europe’s number one defence and space enterprise and the second largest space business worldwide. Its activities include space, military aircraft and related systems and services. It employs more than 38,000 people and in 2015 generated revenues of over 13 billion Euros.

Hurricane Matthew is about to barrel into southeastern United States as a monster category 4 storm.

The cyclone is so powerful that meteorologist Eric Holthaus, in a post for the Pacific Standard, has said "Matthew is a storm unlike any yet seen" in some parts of Florida.

"Since weather records began in 1851, no hurricane of Matthew's predicted strength (Category 4, with sustained winds of at least 135 mph that the National Hurricane Center labels as 'catastrophic') has ever made landfall in Florida north of West Palm Beach," Holthaus said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), hurricane hunters who are flying through the storm, and an international fleet of satellites are keeping close tabs on the situation.

The above image is a composite of several images taken by EUMETSAT weather satellites around 2 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, October 4, 2016. Because it was taken in the dark, it's 100% not true-to-life: It's infrared weather data layered on top of NASA's "blue marble" satellite images.

The following image is a composite made in daylight by NOAA satellites on Wednesday, October 5. The large size of Matthew compared to nearby landmasses is clear:

NOAA and NASA also provided this close-up image:

And this is an animated sequence showing Matthew's path from October 5-6:

Astronauts and cosmonauts also have a clear view of the storm right now from the International Space Station, as they fly about 200 miles above it every 90 minutes:

Patricia is tracking about 100 miles off Florida's eastern coast and headed for a destructive spree up the shoreline at a speed of about 14 mph, with NOAA expecting the storm's powerful core to reach the state Friday evening, local time.

Some models even suggest the storm could assault the US southeast, go out to sea, and loop back — and pummel Florida again with whatever remnants are left.

However, NOAA has also issued a hurricane warning for Georgia's and much of South Carolina's coasts:

In its latest public advisory, NOAA said the storm could have "potentially disastrous impacts for Florida." Areas that bear the brunt of the storm can expect torrential rain, incredibly damaging winds, powerful storm surges, and flooding.

If you live in or around the warning or watch regions highlighted in this map, it is time to evacuate or find safe shelter.

[Via Satellite 09-23-2016] The European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) has shifted Meteosat 8, the first satellite in the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) series of meteorological satellites, to 41.5 degrees east over the Indian Ocean. There, the satellite will replace Meteosat 7, which is approaching the end of its nearly 20-year lifetime in space.

Previously Meteosat 8 served as a “hot backup” at 3.5 degrees east for Meteosat 9, located over Europe at 9.5 degrees east, and Meteosat 10, located over Europe and Africa, at 0 degrees. EUMETSAT’s flight operations team set the spacecraft on an approximately 80-day journey to reach its new position. The organization used a drift orbit to save fuel and keep a safe distance from other spacecraft.

During the transition, EUMETSAT also tested out a number of the satellite’s instruments. A complete validation test campaign for the new service follows, which includes about two months of parallel operations with Meteosat 7, with data dissemination to users. These tests will lead to a formal operational readiness review preceding operational service early next year.

Meteosat 8 is EUMETSAT’s contribution to the Indian Ocean Data Coverage (IODC) service, and will work together with India’s INSAT 3D, at 82 degrees east, China’s FY-2E at 86.5 degrees east and Russia’s Elektro L N2 at 77.8 degrees east in an international, cooperative arrangement.

[Via Satellite 09-06-2016] Newtec has teamed up with Telekom Austria Group following an upgrade order for EUMETCast, the primary dissemination mechanism for the near real-time delivery of satellite data and products from the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT).

The first phases of the project will make an additional 18 MHz of satellite bandwidth available on Eutelsat 10A, located at 10 degrees east. By mid-2017, this will be upgraded to 36 MHz and made available to all end-users.

Telekom Austria will use Newtec MDM6000 satellite modems with the same Digital Video Broadcast-Satellite Second Generation (DVB-S2) service used on the current transponder for the new second transponder. The company will also establish the additional transponder at its teleport in Aflenz, Austria, with the current uplink, along with a back-up uplink available at its teleport in the “Vienna Arsenal” area in case of weather influence. Newtec is supplying modems for both of Telekom Austria’s uplink locations and will be placed in a one-for-one redundant set-up.

EUMETCast will also use an advanced uplink and downlink data integrity monitoring system based on the Newtec NOP1900 Multicast Software (formerly known as TelliCast). According to Newtec, this makes it possible to follow all data packets from the EUMETSAT office in Darmstadt, Germany, to EUMETCast receiving stations across Europe. This enables identification of packet loss in the complete transmission chain as well as faster troubleshooting and future fault prevention where the losses occur.

The National Satellite Data Centre in Sodankylä offers satellite data for free and as a cloud service

6.9.2016 11:00

In Sodankylä, about 100 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, operates the National Satellite Data Centre of the Finnish Meteorological Institute. The centre provides services to Finnish and international customers. Near real time satellite images offer unlimited possibilities for different needs.

Photo: Tero Pajukallio

Sodankylä receives and archives satellite observations of Finland, Europe and the northern hemisphere. Satellites can be used to tailor different products for different needs. Important user groups are, for example, environmental and safety officials. The information transmitted by satellites can be used also in meteorological services, flood prediction systems, ice services and shipping. "The information received from satellites makes it possible to prepare for natural disasters and dangerous situations caused by weather and climate more efficiently", says research professor Jouni Pulliainen from the Finnish Meteorological Institute.

Endless possibilities for application developers

Satellite data received in Sodankylä is available as open data, and if used by a wider user group, it could be used more efficiently than today. As the satellite data is also available as a cloud service, it offers unlimited possibilities for application developers and entrepreneurs. "This offers endless possibilities for product and service development and to create new ecosystems and partnerships between private and public sectors", emphasises research professor Jouni Pulliainen.

FMI uses the received satellite data in several ways. Satellite images can be tailored to produce different kinds of products, like ice charts, flood prediction maps, UV-products and snow and ground frost maps. Satellites are also used to provide environmental and safety information for long-term monitoring. This is important especially in the northern areas, where the effects of climate change can particularly be seen.

The collaboration partners of the Sodankylä satellite data centre are Eumetsat, the European Space Agency and the EU's Copernicus programme. The Sodankylä satellite data centre has an ideal location to receive data from polar orbiting satellites, i.e. satellites with an orbit passing above the poles. As Sodankylä Satellite Data Centre receives data from several satellites and it has an extensive ground measurement program to verify the accuracy and reliability of the satellite measurements, it further enhances the cooperation with different partners.

Paris (ESA) Jul 19, 2016
Getting the bigger picture on the health of our planet drew another step closer as Europe's Sentinel-3A satellite was handed over to Eumetsat for operations.
Since it was launched in February, the satellite and its instruments have been meticulously fine-tuned to make sure that everything is fit and ready for the task in hand: to systematically map Earth's surface for a myriad of services Перейти к новостиКлючевые слова:European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites

Jean Yves Le Gall, president of the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES)

[Via Satellite 05-40-2016] Satellites will play a vital role in ensuring the agreements reached last year at the COP21 Paris Climate Conference are followed through, but more are needed, according to Jean Yves Le Gall, president of the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), the French space agency. Speaking April 29 at the Washington Space Business Roundtable, Le Gall said that the COP21 conference, which he regarded as perhaps the most momentous accomplishment of the decade, drove home the realization to many world leaders that satellites are an inimitable resource in the fight against anthropogenic global warming.

“I think that one of the lessons learned from the cooperation of the COP21 is that we changed the paradigm. Usually the space community says ‘we need politicians,’ but to prepare the COP21 I convinced my colleagues — other heads of space agencies — that we have to explain to the politicians that they need space agencies,” said Le Gall.

World leaders at COP21 pledged to take serious steps toward reducing the amount of man-made Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions in order to curtail the rate of climate change. These goals include limiting the increase in average global temperatures to less than 2 degrees Celsius higher than pre-industrial levels. Furthermore, nations agreed to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase above pre-industrial levels to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2100.

“Such measurements will rely heavily on space assets, and indeed, the COP21 itself would have been impossible without the help of satellites,” he said. “Out of the 55 essential climate variables being monitored today, 26 — more than half — can only be measured from space … it is no exaggeration to say that space is probably the platform on which the success of the COP21 was built.”

Le Gall mentioned that during the course of several discussions with leaders in preparation for COP21, many did not realize the level of data collected by decades of satellite measurements about the planet’s changing state. Satellites will be necessary, he said, to ensure nations keep to — and are able to keep to — the agreements. Le Gall also described a dearth of satellites, however, that are providing this critical data. He said the only carbon-metering satellites currently in orbit are NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 (OCO 2), launched in 2014, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Greenhouse Gas Observing Satellite (GOSAT), which launched in 2009.

New satellites for environmental monitoring are on the way, Le Gall noted. The European Space Agency (ESA), through the Copernicus program, is launching a series of Sentinel satellites capable of a myriad of measurements including optical, radar, atmospheric monitoring, sea level monitoring and more. CNES, in collaboration with the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), NASA and the U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has pioneered the Jason series of oceanography satellites, the latest of which launched in January this year. And JAXA, with partner Mitsubishi Electric, is also building GOSAT 2, which is slated for launch in 2017. Still, Le Gall lamented that there is not enough diversity when it comes to the types of remote sensing spacecraft in orbit today.

“We need not only to measure concentration levels, but also to map fluxes from space and on the ground. It is clear that satellites are the solution and they play a big role here, but we will need more of them in low Earth and geostationary constellations,” he said.

Le Gall said France is bolstering its international cooperation with other space agencies to further the use of satellites in monitoring Earth’s climate. Since COP21, CNES joined with NASA, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), ESA, JAXA and the China National Space Administration (CNSA), in New Delhi to create the New Delhi Declaration, which highlights contributions by the space sector in support of the outcomes of the COP21, and calls for evolving space-based operational tools combining in-situ measurements and increased computing resources.

Le Gall mentioned the rising tide of entrepreneurial space companies, commonly referred to as “NewSpace,” as a game changer for the global space industry. He said NewSpace could show the space industry how to leverage Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technologies, and Cognitive Science (NBIC), which, coupled with most cost effective satellites, can expedite the process of turning raw data into useful information.

“NewSpace seems to break down the barriers between space projects and NBIC technologies to keep pace with advances in technology as predicted by Moore’s law,” said Le Gall.

Le Gall said Silicon Valley — where much of the activity around NewSpace is found — has shown that investors are no longer afraid to put money in space. He said CNES is also taking steps to cultivate NewSpace in Europe, and that he expects this mindset will take root around the world.

“The prevailing impression created by the spectacular high profile achievements of some entrepreneurs is that NewSpace is actually a monopoly of the U.S., but in fact I’m sure that, in the years ahead, it will be just as European, Indian, Japanese or Chinese, as it is American,” he said.

Looking to future steps to mitigate climate change, Le Gall emphasized satellites as a fundamental part of the solution. Like at COP21, he said it will be important to continue to make decision makers aware of the contribution satellites make to understanding and controlling global warming.

“Now for the future we have the solution to explain that once the agreements are taken at a political level at COP21 last year and COP22 in Morocco this year, only satellites will help the states to be sure that the other states are applying these agreements; but even in a state you need the satellite to be sure that your industry decreased the level of the emission of greenhouse gases” he said. “Insisting on the role of the satellite is very important.”

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — With $3 million on hand from Congress and another $5 million sought for 2017, NOAA is setting out to buy test data from one or more of the commercial weather satellite systems heading to market.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a plan April 10 for conducting first Commercial Weather Data Pilot, a congressionally directed demonstration effort aimed at validating the viability of incorporating commercial data into NOAA’s forecast models.

The first Commercial Weather Data Pilot, or CWDP, will kick off this summer with a solicitation for GPS radio occultation data of the sort NOAA and Eumetsat have been using for years to improve weather forecasts. GPS radio occultation receivers that have flown on a handful of research satellites and the U.S.-Taiwanese COSMIC constellation obtain highly detailed temperature and humidity soundings by observing tiny distortions of U.S. Air Force GPS signals as they pass through the atmosphere.

While the U.S. and Taiwan are preparing to replace the six original COSMIC satellites with the first six of 12 planned satellites slated to launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy perhaps late this year, meteorologists would like to see scores of additional GPS radio occultation satellites in orbit.

Several companies, including GeoOptics, PlanetiQ and Spire, have announced plans to address that demand by deploying constellations of dozens to hundreds of small satellites equipped with GPS radio occultation receivers. Spire launched its first four operational satellites last September.

NOAA told Congress in a report publicly released April 10 that is selected GPS radio occultation “as the most suitable data type for the CWDP” based on formal input it gathered from industry last year.

Sometime between July and the end of September, according to the report, NOAA expects to solicit pilot data “from the full range of potentially viable vendors” — including firms with satellites already on orbit, or from, systems not yet deployed but in the advanced stages of instrument, satellite, and mission development.”

“For missions not yet deployed on orbit, evaluating pre-launch data could aid NOAA in understanding and scoping the expectations for what the on- orbit data stream might look like,” NOAA wrote. “The evaluations provided by NOAA of pre-launch data may be useful to commercial entities as they finalize their flight activities.”

NOAA expects to spend about one-third of the CWDP’s projected $8 million budget to buy data from commercial vendors with the remaining two-thirds used for evaluation.

NOAA intends to spend the latter half of 2016 ingesting and evaluating the pilot data, producing an initial assessment report by the end of March 2017.

NOAA says it will incorporate lessons from the CWDP into next-generation satellite observation planning activities currently underway in NESDIS.

Writing in the April 11 issue of SpaceNews Magazine, Stephen Volz, assistant administrator for NOAA Satellite and Information Services, said the CWDP “demos will facilitate the commercial sector’s ability to contribute to improved NOAA products and services while ensuring we uphold our responsibility to provide high-quality forecasts through the use of proven, trusted data.

“It’s a win-win solution: commercial firms gain a trial-run for their data through an evaluation process conducted by NOAA, and NOAA receives information needed to consider sustained use of that commercial data operationally.”

Panelists include: Chirag Parikh, director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s Source Strategies Office; Antoine de Chassy, Spire Global’s vice president of business development; and Eric Webster, Harris Corp’s vice president and general manager of environmental solutions.

This year’s Space Symposium also features a keynote address at 10:45 a.m. Tuesday by U.S. Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.), a leading advocate for greater use of commercial weather data.

[Via Satellite 04-01-2016] Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) has signed an expanded and extended agreement for ground station support for the European meteorological organization EUMETSAT. The organization is installing three new antenna systems at KSAT’s Svalbard facility, which KSAT will maintain. The antennas are for the MetOp Second Generation satellites, a continuation of the existing operational weather satellite systems KSAT also supports.

KSAT is beginning these services this year. According to the company, Svalbard is particularly well suited for the Ka-band systems due to the dry Arctic atmosphere. The agreement covers maintenance and site operation for as many as five antenna systems total.

With this mission, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will deliver the Jason-3 science satellite to low-Earth orbit for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), French space agency Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT).

Lifting off on its 80th flight, Ariane 5 continued its track record of success this week with a "picture-perfect" mission to deploy Embratel Star One's Star One C4 telecommunications relay platform and the MSG-4 meteorological monitoring satellite for Eumetsat.

Immediately after the successful launch of MSG-4, Arianespace and EUMETSAT announced the signature of a contract entrusting Arianespace with the first launch services for the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) series of geostationary satellites.

The Ariane 5 for Arianespace's Flight VA224 has reached the launch zone in French Guiana, positioning this heavy-lift workhorse for its July 15 dual-passenger mission with Embratel Star One's Star One C4 and MSG-4 for Eumetsat.

Arianespace's ability to accommodate multiple missions and a full range of payloads at the Spaceport was underscored once again by the arrival of Europe's Eumetsat MSG-4 meteorological satellite, which is to be lofted later this year by a heavy-lift Ariane 5.

The Sentinel-5 Mission is part of the European Earth Observation Programme "Copernicus" (www.copernicus.eu), which creates a modern, capable infrastructure for Earth observation and geo-information services. The programme is run by the European Commission together with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Environment Agency (EEA).

The Sentinel-5 mission objective is to monitor the composition of the Earth atmosphere for GMES Atmosphere Services by taking measurements of trace gases and aerosols impacting air quality and climate. Characterization of trace gases concentration in the atmosphere such as ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, methane, formaldehyde and carbon monoxide will enable services addressing the air quality on a near real-time basis but as well on a longer term for climate impact assessment.

The Sentinel-5 mission will consist of an UVNS spectrometer covering relevant bandwidths in the Ultra-Violet (UV), Visible (VIS), Near Infrared (NIR) and Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) spectral domains.

Airbus Defence and Space is Prime Contractor for the design, development, assembly, integration, test and verification of the Sentinel-5/UVNS instrument.

Sentinel-5 will be embarked as a Customer Furnished Item (CFI) on the future MetOp-SG platforms. These satellites, with more than seven years lifetime, will be flying in an 816 km polar orbit and will be operated by EUMETSAT.

Customer

European Space Agency (ESA)

Mission objectives

Continuous measurement of the chemical composition of the atmosphere, monitoring of air quality, climate change impact, concentration of aerosols in frame of the Copernicus Program.

Data products

The main data products will be O3, NO2, SO2, HCHO, CO, CH4 and aerosol optical depth.

Modular architecture allowing for parallel subsystems development and a flexible industrial procurement and integration sequence:

The single spectrometers are individually optimized for spectral and radiometric requirements. Innovative technologies for the Polarization Scrambler and Slit Homogenizer devices allow measurements with high accuracies independent of the polarization and heterogeneity of the observed scene.
The CCD detectors for the UVN channels and the MCT Detectors for the SWIR channels together with the Front End and Detection Support Electronic form an integrated system over all spectrometers.
The Calibration Subsystem allows calibration with high absolute accuracy using sun light and on-board illumination sources every orbit.
A Carbon-Fibre-Re-enforced-Polymer (CFRP) main structure ensures mechanical and thermal the stabilities required by the single spectrometers under changing loads per orbit and over the operational life-time of the instrument.
Featuring passive cooling the thermal control system provides temperature conditions adapted to the different requirements of the instrument modules. The temperature variation is stabilized better than 1K during one orbit.
The Instrument Control Subsystem performs on-board data processing and forms the functional interface to the satellite.

Sentinel-5 Instrument in context to other satellite instruments

Sentinel-5/UVNS will follow the Sentinel-5 Precursor mission, which is due to be launched in 2016 as a short-term solution to fill the gap between current European atmospheric monitoring satellites and the Sentinel-5 mission.

Sentinel-5/UVNS is the continuation of successful instruments like SCIAMACHY and OMI, as well as TROPOMI flying on Sentinel-5 Precursor

Along with Sentinel-5/UVNS, the following three instruments on board the MetOp-SG satellites will deliver complementary information:

The Sentinel-4/UVN spectrometer (prime contractor: Airbus DS Germany) on board the MTG satellites monitors the Earth atmosphere composition over Europe from geostationary orbit in a subset of the Sentinel-5/UVNS spectral range.

The European meteorological satellite organization EUMETSAT has selected Arianespace to launch its Metop-C spacecraft. The 4,250-kg. satellite will be placed into polar orbit by a Soyuz launch vehicle operated from the Spaceport in French Guiana. Metop-C will be fitted with a dozen instruments designed to take atmospheric measurements at different altitudes, and to map temperatures and wind fields on the ocean surface.

Analysis of Fog Probability from a Combination of Satellite and Ground Observation Data

Authors: Guidard, Vincent ; Tzanos, Diane

The Cloud Type product, developed by the Satellite Application Facility to support to nowcasting and very short-range forecasting (SAFNWC) of EUMETSAT and based on Météosat-8/SEVIRI, identifies cloud categories, and especially low and very low clouds which are first estimates of areas where fog is likely to occur. This cloud type is combined with precipitation information from radar data and with hourly diagnostic analyses of 2-metre relative humidity and 10-metre wind to elaborate an hourly analysis of fog probability. This analysis provides four levels of fog probability with a 3-kilometre horizontal resolution: No risk, low-level risk, medium-level risk and high-level risk. An evaluation of such fog probability analyses versus a one-year set of French hourly SYNOP reports shows encouraging results (potential of detection = 0.73 for low and medium and high-level risks), even if false alarm ratios remain high. Most of the non-detections occur at twilight and are due to satellite non-detections. Eventually, we show case studies that clearly illustrate the high potential of the method.